Liberty to spin off Capital, Starz units

Liberty, which has been criticised for its opaque structure, currently trades under three tracking stocks: Liberty Starz and Liberty Capital, and Liberty Interactive, which holds assets including interests in QVC, internet company IAC/InterActiveCorp, and travel web site Expedia.

Greg Maffei, the company’s chief executive, said that the split will create more transparency for the business and will help the company “to better pursue our strategic objectives, including acquisitions using stock.” He expects the split-off to occur in late 2010 or early 2011.